Saturday, May 02, 2009

Standing on a Mountain

Have you ever stood on a mountaintop and looked out at the amazing view? I remember one particular time some years back, looking at the breath-taking panoramic view that engulfed my vision. I could see as far as the eye could see on this bright clear day. I remember thinking of the amazing potential and possibility before me. It was endless. I was inspired with hope and dreams.
Then, when I drove down off the mountain, I ended up on a single highway and all I could see was the microcosmic view before me. The longer I rode on this highway the more real the limited view appeared.
As I have traveled along this long valley road my heart and mind have had a tendency to believe the limited perspective that my eyes could see. My mind began to tell my heart and soul that this was reality.
I remember reading in a book an analogy about a child standing in a crowded elevator. The writer posed a question something like this: "When you are a child in a crowded elevator, what can you see?" The answer, "All you can see is Butts and Elbows!" The point, "But if you ask your Daddy to pick you up, your perspective immediately changes."
While driving down this valley road, I often have to remind myself to "ask Daddy to pick me up". When I do, I envision this beautiful, endless Mountain view. My eyes, heart and mind readjust and I begin to see clearly again the endless possibilities of hope and dreams before me.
"Without a vision the people perish" (Pr 29:28). Or said another way, without the ability to see the panoramic view of endless hope and possibility before us, our heart and spirit tend to die within us.
In this day of economic challenges, financial strain, dashed dreams and fading hope, it is crucial that we take our car off-road on a little stroll atop the mountain. It is paramount that we take a deep breath in Daddy's arms and take in the endless view of hope and possibility before us.
It is true that "we become what we think about most." When we spend all of our time on the low valley road we begin to think that this is all there is. We tend to settle for a mundane life of "eat, work, sleep and die".
I refuse to believe that. I may die one day as "just a dreamer", but I would rather die dreaming than live a life stuck on an endless road of empty pursuit. Why settle for roadwork on a long valley road when there are Mountaintops to climb? Maybe the modern philosophy of our day is true; maybe we can't live on the Mountaintop all of our life. Maybe... Then again, maybe we will discover that the real "reality" is to live on the mountain in order to bring hope to those in the valley.
Regardless, we can always take a daily stroll atop the mountain to gain Daddy's perspective on a regular basis - doing so will allow us to bring a whole new reality to the valley road of life below.
Why settle for less when we can have so much more?
Maybe it's time to take in the breath-taking, endless mountain view of hope, dreams and Heavenly perspective. "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mt 16:25-27).
Isn't it time we dream and hope again?
I hope to meet you on the mountaintop to take in the endless mountain view of hope, dreams, and inspiration. Perhaps we will gain Daddy's perspective in order to bring the heavenly point of view down to the valley that we call life.
THERE IS MORE!!!
Enjoy The Journey!
Bart

2 comments:

  1. "It is true that "we become what we think about most.""

    Yep! So true! I find it so easy in the midst of a "normal" job to forget that I am called higher so that is a reason I try to keep the mountaintop perspective - refreshing myself with crazy testimonies, ministering to people on a regular basis, and regularly allowing myself to dream with God - so that the dream doesn't die. This morning in fact, someone told me something that reminded me of a powerful dream I had before I moved to Redding. Even with seeing a LOT of miracles in the past month I had still managed to all but forget that dream and what the Lord spoke to me through it.

    You are awesome, Bart!

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  2. Great message, Bart! The Lord reminds me of this often! It's one we really need to "chew on" and "digest." He has soooooo much more for us!!! I look forward to your next blog and our next mountaintop experience together...

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